Art of knitting stockings.



No. 660,374. Patented Oct. 23, i900. H. G. HUETTIG &. P. SCHLUSSMANN.

ART 0F KNITTI'NG `S'TGKINGS.`

(Application led Hay 29, 1900.) (N o Model-J 3 'Sheets-Sheet l.

TH: 'mams varias co. Prmtmumo.. wAsmNew'-, D. c.

No. 000,374. Patented 0er'. 23, |900.

. 1 H. G. HUETTIG & P. SCHLOSSMANN. ART 0F' KmTTlNG socKmGs.

(Application med my 29, 1900.) (No Model.) `3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

N. D. cA mi Nonms PETERS co. Pnoaumo., wAsHlNuTo un. 660,374c Patentedoct. A23, |900. It. a. HUETTIG & P. SCHLOSSMANN., ABT oF unirme socxmes.(no Modal.) (Application filed my 29, 1900.)

'3 Sheath-Sheet 3 UlxurrlnnI ,STATESv PATENT OFFICE.

I-IUeo eUsrAv4 HUnTrIe AN-D PAUIQsoHLYossMANN, on PHILADELPHIA,

PENNSYLVANIA.

ART oF `Kuli-'rlNo; srooKlNes;4

SPECIFICATION forming part of Leu-.ers Patent No. 660,374, dated october23, 1900.

Application tiled May 29, 1900. Serial No. 18,406. No model.)

machines, and in such connection it relates more particularly to animprovement whereby a transference of the stocking from the needles ofone machine to the needles of another machine may be readily and quicklyeffected.

The principal object of our invention is to knit that portion of thestocking knownl as the heel portion with a series of alined open meshesat or near the margins or edges of the heel portion, which are to beafterward con'- nected to the foot portion of the stocking, said openmeshes being regularly formed upon the machine during the knitting ofthe heel fabric without removing the same from the -needles and withoutcrowding or distorting the regularly-woven meshes and forming a meanswhereby when the heel portion is completed upon the machine it may betaken off of the needles and readily transferred to the needles ofanother machine upon which the remaining portion of the stocking is tobe knit.

Heretofore in the formation or manufacture of stockings wherein the legand heel and toe or foot portions were made at successive operations itwas necessary after the heel was knit to remove the stocking from themachine which had knit the heel portion and spread out certain meshes ofthe heel near its margins or edges with a sharp-pointed tool in thehands of an operator. This manipulation of the heel portion was tedious,expensive, and

^ unsatisfactory, because unless the operator of the machine knittingthe foot portion were to be inserted.

rllhe object of our present invention is to form these alined, open, orloose meshes in the heel portionA of the stocking by the machine uponwhich the heel portion is knit and to thereby insure regularity in theformation of these' open meshes without distortion of the-other meshes.

The nature and scope of our invention will be more fully understood fromthe following description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure l is a front View of apartially-completed stocking, the heel portion illustrating ourinvention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the heelportion of the stocking. Fig.v 3 is a front elevational view of thatportion of a straight-knitting machine adapted to knit the heel portionof the stocking and illustrating one way in Which the open meshes may beformed by the machine. Fig. 4 is a top or plan View of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 isa cross-sectionalview-of a portion of afstraightknittingV machine,illustrating how the open meshes may be formed by elongating one of thesinkers which form the transverse mesh or loop; and Figf is a top orplan view of Fig. 5.

Referring tothe drawings, and particularly to Figs. l and 2, arepresents the leg portion of a stocking, preferably tubular and knitupon a circular machine in the usual manner. `At the bottom of this legportion a is fastened in the usual manner the bag-like heel portion l),having edges or margins b' to which the toe or foot portion (not shown)of the stocking is to be united.. When the toe or foot portion of thestocking is to be knit, the heel portion h is transferred to the machineWhieh forms the foot portion, and to enable the foot portion to be knitto the margins or edges b' of the heel portion b smoothly 4and withoutthe formation of a large seam at those points it is necessary to form inthe heel portion, transversely to the regular loops formed by theneedles which knit said heel portion, a series of alined open meshes orloops, which will permit the heel portion to be placed upon the needlesof the new machine. In our present invention this series of open meshesb2 is formed during the regular knitting of the heel portion b. In Figs.3 and 4 one Way of forming these meshes h2 is illustrated. It consistssimply in removing one of the needles CZ of that portion of thestraightknitting machine in which the heel portion is knit, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 4. The removal of this needle causes the thread e toform, in conjunction with the sinkers f and f adjacent to the space cl2,which the removed needle would ordinarily occupy, a crossing or straightloop, and the adjacent courses of loops b3 and b4 are thus connected, orrather separated, by an unlooped and straight crossing-thread b2. As theknitting of the heel portion b progresses there will be formed a seriesof alined open meshes b2, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of thedrawings. In Figs. V5 and 6 'another method of forming the meshes b2 isillustrated, and this consists simply of elongating one sinkerf and notremoving any of the needles. There will thus be formed at the pointWhere the sinker a 5 flo operates an extended laterally or horizonopenmeshes b2 it is obvious that adjacent courses of loops and adjacenttransverse rows of meshes Will not be distorted, as has hitherto beenuniversally the case Where the meshes were first knit close together andafterward picked ont or opened by a tool in the hand of an operator.When thus formed by the machine, there can be no question but that theopen meshes b2 are properly alined or formed in one row only oftransverse meshes. When, however, these meshes were formed by hand,itwas frequently found that in iine-meshed fabrics the operator failedto follow the same transverse row.

Having thus described the nature and object of our invention, what Weclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ise- 1. Animprovement in the art of knitting stockings and the like by machinery,which consists in forming at or adjacent to the edges or margins of theheel portion of vthe stocking, a transverse row of open meshes adaptedwhen the heel portion is transferred to the machine for completing thestocking toreadily receive the needles of said machine, said open meshesbeing formed in the heel fabric during the knitting ofthe same andWithout removing the fabric from the needles, substantially as and fort-he purposes described.

2. An improvement in the art of knitting the heel portions of stockingsupon straightknitting machines, which consists in forming adjacent tothe edges or margins of the heel portion a series of alined,transversely-arranged open meshes, said open meshes being formed in theheel fabric during the knitting of the same and Without removing thefabric from the needles, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our signatures, atPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, this 26th day of May, A. D. 1900, in thepresence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

HUGO GUSTAV HUETTIG. PAUL SCHLOSSMANN. Witnesses:

MARION STRAUS, FRANK J. BROWN.

